


The Little Things

by manaika



Series: Fabulous Family Chronicles [4]
Category: Hakuouki
Genre: Drabbles, Family, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, One-Shots, Other, Unconventional Families, idk - Freeform, this is supposed to be just a small sweet fluffy thing, where Heisuke finds out some things about his dads
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 17:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14454264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manaika/pseuds/manaika
Summary: Sometimes Heisuke can't tell whether his dads love each other, or whether they're just best friends who got hitched. And then there are times when he's not sure where the difference is, and occassions that make him ponder about what love really is, and how many shapes it takes.01: Heisuke gets a hint about his dad's honest feelings.





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> I realize it took me a year to update, but in my defense a lot has happened. Between summer and autumn I had a lot to do and then the last half a year of Living Hell on Earth has taken place, which I'm not even going to get into. Suffice to say my energy levels were completely drained and the amount of fucks given was 0 Kelvin. I'm slowly getting better now however and I pray it lasts. 
> 
> I haven't been completely unproductive, it's just that I never finished the parts I've been writing, because I got stuck. The reason why this is good news is, that I have a lot of stuff in progress, which I'll hopefully be able to finish. The next thing should come in June, just in time for pride month. I hope I can finish it. For now have the first installment in the collection of incidents, affairs, mishaps and various other things happening in the merry little family I've come to adore over this past year.

It was the strangest thing.

You know how you lived in the same closed space with other people for several years, and yet you had the most different experiences? It was kinda freaky, wasn't it? How differently different people reacted to different things, but then again, Sano-san always said that everyone had a different thing. 

"Seriously? Seriously never?"

His two siblings shook their heads.

It was incredulous, really. He had never given it a second thought, it being one of the most natural things for him to do, but as it seemed, when something was natural to him didn't mean it was natural for others. But Sano-san always said that too.

"Okay, but like... why?"

His brother shook his shoulders, while his sister shook her head.

"It's just so... personal. Intimate."

"It feels like I'm invading their privacy."

Personally, Heisuke saw nothing invasive in entering his dads' bedroom. Now, _the bed_ was a different story, Heisuke wouldn't lie down there if they _dared_ him, nuh-uh. But the _bedroom_? He'd understand if this was the first time Chizuru and Ryuunosuke had set foot into the apartment, but after five years of _living here_? Apparently, some people didn't feel confident enough even after such an amount of time to enter their parents' bedroom. It sounded kinda crazy. Or maybe it was this entire 'we're not really a part of the family tho' shmuck. Either way, it sounded just silly.

"Bull. Shit."

"Heisuke-kun," Chizuru frowned at him. "Sanosuke-san doesn't like it when you swear."

"He can shove that up his... up a dark, hidden space where no one will find it." He corrected himself mid-sentence, when the look his sister was giving him grew even darker. Taking his chances with Sano-san was one thing, taking them with Chizuru was something completely else. Seriously… He liked it more when she sided with him. She was _his_ sister, not Sano-san's!

"Anyway," he cleared his throat. "The geezers don't mind. It's not like they have gay porn lying around. It's actually surprisingly tidy, most of the time."

Except for when Sano-san was too tired to care (which wasn't as a rare occurrence as the other two thought), but Heisuke still had, much to his gratitude, never gotten his eyes on any kind of illicit magazines. However, it was fun to see both his siblings light up like two neon red fireflies at the comment. Take that!

"Sa... Sanosuke-san would never risk exposing us to that!"

"If that's your standard, I don't wanna know how you lived before!"

Heisuke laughed, having long ago gotten over the sting any mention of his previous life used to cause. He hated to admit it, but there was no room for sadness in a space filled with Sano-san's heart and Shinpat-suan's laugh. 

"Remember how I told you it had been in a dumpster?" He shot back, throwing a balled-up sock at Ryuu for good measure. Having a brother was as awesome as it was a nightmare, really. But back to the matter at hand. "You have no idea what you're missing!"

"Like what?"

Ryuu challenged, but little did he know that Heisuke had an answer ready.

"Like the Pillowcase War!"

He exclaimed with the largest, shit-eating-est grin he could manage, like he just won the damn lottery. And he might have – Ryuu's blank expression and Chizuru's dumbfounded one were priceless. 

"The... uh... what?"

"A pillow... fight?"

Heisuke could barely hold back another laugh. 

"No! The Pillowcase War, I'm tellin' you."

"And what... exactly... is... that?" Ryuu asked very, _very_ slowly, like he wasn't even sure he wanted to know. Well, Heisuke wasn't sparing him.

"It's this crazy feud they have over covers. Come on, it's easier if I just show you!" Heisuke said, springing from his desk, where he had been occupied with his English homework before their little chat got him side-tracked. (Or rather before he decided to side-track himself, but such details were not important.) His brother and sister sighed in unison, apparently not oblivious to his ulterior motives of getting them into the master bedroom at least this once.

"Heisuke-kun…"

"Come _ON_ , it will be just a glimpse!" Heisuke called, already out of the door, missing the look the two of them exchanged. Not that he hadn't seen it before. "You comin'?!" He waited for them in front of the door, which was just across from the other bedroom, grinning to himself in accomplishment. And sure enough, curiosity won over whatever weird propriety they thought they were practicing, because a second later Ryuu and Chizuru joined him. 

Sano-san was already out and Shinpat-suan wasn't back yet – which, given the season, wasn't surprising – thus they had the kingdom all for themselves. 

"You know how they sometimes agree to disagree, because both of them are too stubborn to step down?" Heisuke started before either of them could say anything, reaching for the doorknob. "Well, for some strange reason, they can't agree on pillowcases either." Leading them inside, he nodded to the double bed directly facing them that frankly looked like split down in half. The right half (left from their point of view), the one next to the balcony door, had the usual hill of pillows in different sizes and colors. Currently, Heisuke could distinguish a green, purple, blue and an orange one. The green blanket was haphazardly thrown across that half of the bed. Meanwhile the left half, the one closer to the dresser, held only a single wide pillow in red and a neatly folded dark blue fleece blanket. It really wasn't hard to tell which half was whose. 

"Or on the pillow size and blankets," Heisuke added upon the sight. "You know those double bed cover sets? I have never seen one. I don't think they _own_ one. The only thing that's same on both sides is the mattress and bed sheet."

Other than the mess on one half of the bed and the white, red-trimmed jogging pants, which Heisuke knew were Sano-san's, thrown over the armchair with the matching jacket bellow it, apparently fallen down from where it had been draped across the trousers, the room was relatively free of clutter. The desk across the bed held a pile of deranged papers and a single notebook was placed open in the center of it.

"Oh, hey!" Heisuke exclaimed in surprise when his eyes landed on it. "That's Shinpat-suan's diary!"

Fascinated by the unusual sight – Shinpat-suan _never_ left that thing lying around like that – Heisuke approached the table, while the other two just watched him with skeptical looks. 

"You mean journal," Ryuu corrected him, but Heisuke waved his hand dismissively, smirking playfully at the familiar scrawl of a handwriting.

"'Journal' is what _he_ calls it. I prefer the term 'diary'." Picking the notebook up, he flipped a few pages, skimming idly through it. Somehow, that was a problem.

"What are you doing?! Are you nuts?!" Ryuu exclaimed, hurrying over to him with his hands pulling at his hair in horror. Heisuke raised his eyebrows.

"Heisuke-kun, you shouldn't be reading that." Chizuru sounded kinda freaked. Heisuke sighed.

"It's just a diary, sheesh. 'S not like he's some secret agent or whatever, calm down. Besides, it's not like I'm reading it." He looked back at the diary, but nothing about seemed interesting enough to be Shinpat-suan's most guarded secret. He was about to put it back down as it was, when he suddenly read his name and curiosity got the better of him. "Huh?"

"Heisuke-kun!" Chizuru sounded again like Sano-san sometimes did, when it was upon him to be the responsible adult in the house. Heisuke ignored her. 

The entry read:

_May 15th 2017. Pleasantly warm, but windy. _

_Mondays are the worst. Especially Mondays after tax season. It's not that I don't want to send the data to the ministry, it's just not finished yet. Fuck bureaucracy and yay for another hell of a week._

Heisuke chuckled at the utter sarcasm those words were emanating. He could almost feel Shinpat-suan's frustration creep into his shoulders, and even Chizuru and Ryuunosuke peaked over his shoulders to see what had him so amused. But that wasn't what he had been after. He skimmed through the document again, looking for his name. He found it one paragraph lower.

_But the weekend was nice. Sano threw me a surprise birthday party and Heisuke, that little shit, knew all about it and didn't tell me. Though it probably should have been suspicious, how he kept insisting on being outside. Well, the weather was nice. _

"Your own fault," Heisuke muttered with a smirk. He remembered Sano-san dragging him out of the bed way too early for a Sunday morning, only to announce he'd be throwing the both of them out in an hour so _"better get ready and don't be back till I tell you to come."_ Effectively destroying Heisuke's plans of marathon gaming. But in the end the weather _had_ been nice and he and Shinpat-suan got to hang out, so he wasn't complaining. He had fun.

And maybe it was sheer curiosity, simple fascination over the unexpected intricacy of the kanji, or plain habit, but his eyes continued to read the text, word for word, as Shinpat-suan's quirky hand continued to reveal a side of the man Heisuke didn't know.

_But even he was surprised when an actual cake made it's appearance. I could barely believe my eyes (and the sheer luck of the kitchen still being in one piece, hah). Regardless, it was an incredible gesture. I have sometimes trouble perceiving the effort Sano is willing to put into making us all happy, if only for a single moment. I know I keep saying this, but..._

" _What_ are you _**doing**_?!"

It wasn't as much the volume of the voice, as the _anger_ seeping through it, sending a chill down their backs, that made them all jump and turn only to come face to face with the embodiment of… well. Heisuke couldn't think of a better word than 'annihilation'. 

"Shinpachi-san!" Chizuru exclaimed, hand covering her lips in an instant. They hadn't even heard the front door, too absorbed with the journal to notice that the main suspect no. 1 had returned home. "We're sorry, we didn't mean to!"

"It was Heiuske's idea!"

Heisuke, who had been until that moment too stunned with the sheer fury in his dad's face, whipped around to give Ryuu a look of utter betrayal. 

" _ **Ryuu!!!**_ " 

It was official. Having a brother sucked balls. 

Shinpat-suan didn't appear to pay any attention to it however. He marched towards them, impression of a thunder god, and Heisuke felt his blood freeze. 

"Shin… Shinpat-suan. I… I…" He had _never_ seen his dad _this_ furious. Not this one. Agitated, frustrated and exasperated, yes. But _angry_? He had sometimes wondered if Shinpat-suan even knew what that word meant. He supposed some questions better went unanswered, huh? Pity it was too late. 

"I can explain…" He started, hoping in his innate optimism that he could salvage this before Shinpat-suan blew it way out of proportion as he _always_ did, but the man didn't react. Instead he snatched the notebook from Heisuke, merciless, furious thunder blue eyes fixating him with their glare.

_Shit._

"You have no right to be reading this!"

Well, no, and Heisuke felt kinda sorry, but it wasn't like it was some secret report for the PSIA or whatever. He didn't read it with malicious intent either, just out of plain curiosity. It wasn't even that badly written to be ridiculous. No reason to blow up. He'll explain, apologize and it would all be good. Yes. Exactly. That's how it was going to be. Although he had to admit Shinpat-suan was fucking _scary_ when angry. Ryuu and Chizuru were frozen stiff. 

"Shinpat…"

"DON'T 'SHINPAT-SUAN' ME!" 

The hollered words resonated through the room _and_ through his soul, and Heisuke's mouth shut. An hour later he would realize that this was the exact moment he should have known just how very screwed he was. That his dad would not calm down no matter what he said, and Heisuke would be, for the first time living in their cozy apartment, absolutely terrified. But hindsight was a strange thing, because hindsight would reveal that he had no chance in resolving the situation in the first place from the very first excuse he had made. 

But that was hindsight and now was now. Now Heisuke's jaw clenched and his heart lodged itself into his throat and started beating a mile a minute. Vaguely he wondered if it was too lame to die of a heart attack before he had even been on a date, but that was the last on his list of concerns at this moment. Shinpat-suan's anger was palpable and all the boy could think of was that he had never seen such an intense heat in those blue eyes. He could feel the panic rise in his chest as it dawned on him how colossally he just _fucked. up._

"This is NOT YOURS and I NEVER gave your ANY permission to even OPEN IT."

"I'm sorry…" Heisuke started his apology, scratching the back of his head, trying to play it down, keep it light, still hoping to defuse Shinpat-suan somehow. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's your fault letting it lie around like that! Come on, let's forget about it." But apparently today was paved with completely idiotic decisions on his part, because that didn't defuse Shinpat-suan. On the contrary, the thick brows furrowed only more, the eyes grew darker and Heisuke _swore_ he saw a flash of lightning in there. A cold shiver chased down his spine and for a moment his body moved on it's own, reacting on sheer instinct as he brought his arms up in a defensive gesture.

"Shinpat...suan…?

"You'll NEVER pick this up AGAIN, **UNDERSTOOD**?!!!"

His dad thundered and Heisuke gulped. He found it hard to speak through the sudden lump in his throat, a painful clutch squeezing his insides with an iron grip. 

"I…"

" **UNDERSTOOD**?!!!"

"Yes." He somehow accomplished a nod, neck completely gone stiff, the small hairs at the back of it standing up. There must have been something in the tone of his voice that convinced Shinpat-suan to let them go, because the man seemed to deflate a little and when he spoke his voice was quieter compared to seconds ago, although still cold and sharp as a knife. It cut as one too.

"Now _go to your room_ and _do your homework_." 

Shinpat-suan had _never_ used that tone with him. That chiding, angry, disappointed tone that usually Sano-san used to get him to do shit. Only, as Heisuke realized now, Sano-san was never really angry, or disappointed, he just wanted to make him think about things, wanted him to be responsible. Shinpat-suan _meant it_.

"Yessir," he answered timidly, looking to the ground in shame. There was a tightness in his chest and pressure behind his eyes. _Fuck._ He hadn't wanted this. He hadn't wanted to upset Shinpat-suan. He also hadn't thought Shinpat-suan would be this furious over something so _stupid_. 

"And you're GROUNDED for the rest of the WEEK. _ALL OF YOU._ _Without_ probation. Is that clear?"

And he most certainly hadn't expected to be grounded like he had just been caught pranking Hijikata-san. He looked at Shinpat-suan wide-eyed and confused. Even Chizuru and Ryuu who had been standing on the sidelines until then, speechless in the face of such fury, only nodding when necessary, also raised their heads in surprise at the harsh punishment. A part of Heisuke's mind wondered if their timidness was also for the fact that they felt like they were only guests and lived at their place from the sheer goodwill of it's owners, but he was in far too much trouble to give it serious thought right now.

"But…" He started to protest against the seemingly unfair penalty, but Shinpat-suan cut him off, repeating his question in a manner that made it blatantly apparent it was no question at all.

" _Is that clear?_ "

Heisuke lowered his head again, this time in defeat. "Yessir."

They all dragged themselves out of the room quietly, like they were tiptoeing on eggshells, afraid that the smallest sound might set the volcano off again. Chizuru kept staring at the ground, only parting her lips once or twice as if she wanted to say something, but closed them again a second later. Ryuu seemed for some unknown reason a little bolder, daring to lay a hand on Heisuke's shoulder. He came as far as the first syllable of his name, when Heisuke decided he didn't want to be dealing with Ryuunosuke one bit, not after being thrown under the bus by him. So instead he just yanked himself out of Ryuu's grasp without sparing a single glance at the other boy. Back in their room the silence felt deafening, but none of them made any more effort to break it, preferring the distraction of homework instead. And maybe it was fear from what the war god on his rampage would do if they disobeyed his orders, but Heisuke found it suddenly very easy to focus on the past participle.

* * *

It wasn't until very late in the evening that there was a gentle tap on their door, right as they were getting ready to bed.

"Hey…" Sano-san's whispered greeting came from the doorway, but the words still felt hard-rock-concert loud. Since what had happened in the evening they had barely spoken five words. Even dinner had been an unusually sedated affair, with Shinpat-suan only coming in once to tell them food was on the table in the flattest voice possible, devoid of all emotion. Neither of them had stood to look at him and Heisuke had barely eaten anything for his stomach still being squeezed by an iron fist. "Are you sleeping?"

Heisuke didn't answer, curled up on his bed and with his back to the door, but he guessed either Chizuru or Ryuu shook their head, because soon there was the sound of Sano-san expertly navigating through their clutter right before his bed dipped and the familiar warmth of his gentle hand spread over Heisuke's shoulder. It felt comforting and when a heartbeat later Sano-san spoke, Heisuke felt the slightest bit calmer.

"What happened?"

The boy snorted, but didn't look at his dad. 

"As if you don't know already." It wasn't too late past the time Sano-san usually got home, but enough for him to have already made the round and gathered what had gone down while he was whistling at sprinting juveniles and collecting stray javelins. 

"I'd like to hear it from you." 

Heisuke squirmed, not wanting to face another lecture, but Sano-san's voice was calm and quiet, gentler even than usually and his hand rubbed Heisuke's shoulder in such a reassuring way that soon he found himself mumbling, confessing all of his sins to the one person who had the power to fix it. 

"I kind of read Shinpat-suan's journal and he caught me."

"Kind of?"

Sano-san's reply wasn't in a sharp tone, or spoken in an accusing way. If anything it held slight amusement, but nevertheless it made Heisuke shrink into himself. He heard his dad draw a breath as if to say something, but Ryuu, who had not said a single word since… the thing with the pillows, beat him to it.

" _We_ read his journal." 

Heisuke hadn't spared his brother a look since the stunt the guy pulled, so the contrite words startled him. Not that he thought they weren't justified. Even if a small voice at the back of Heisuke's mind whispered that both Ryuu and Chizuru had warned him, they had been there, right? They had been there with him _and_ had read the notebook with him.

"We weren't exactly stopping you."

Damn straight they hadn't. Except for their loud protesting, they hadn't put up much of a fight. They had just as much right to be grounded as him. Especially that traitor of a so-called brother. Still, that tiny voice in Heisuke's mind chided him that Ryuu's words though a little cowardly hadn't been untrue, it really _was_ his fault. And Ryuu seemed to feel bad enough about it, and maybe this wasn't all worth it to not talk to his brother for the rest of his life, as he had sworn to himself. 

"We've even read it along with you." Chizuru's soft voice chimed in and something in Heisuke's heart broke. "We didn't intend to read it, but we still did." Heisuke knows by the change in her tone that she was addressing those words to Sano-san. Whom both she and Ryuu adored, and now probably feared he was upset with them.

"Yeah. No one forced us. We all were there, it doesn't matter now whose fault it was."

"You warned me," Heisuke heard himself say before he thought about it. "You said it was a bad idea."

"That was Chizuru."

"You agreed. You asked me if I was nuts." 

"Legit concern, don't you think?"

"Shut up." 

Heisuke found a smile tugging the corners of his lips upwards and sighed inwardly, before finally turning to look at Sano-san, arm resting against his forehead.

"We're all sorry, okay? But it _was_ my idea."

Sano-san didn't show any hint of reaction at that statement, simply looking at him. "Why did you do it?"

Heisuke's smile fell a little. He didn't hear any judgment in Sano-san's voice, just gentle inquiry and shaking his shoulders once, he answered.

"I don't know. It was there on the table and I got curious, I suppose. He always writes into that damn thing and no one knows what. Maybe I just wanted a peek." It sounded so stupid, but at the same time as he was speaking he started feeling bad. He had no idea why, but he was feeling guilty all of a sudden. "I swear I didn't mean anything by it." He said, looking his dad straight into the eyes. "I wasn't being mischievous, or petty, I didn't want to prank him, or hurt him, or whatever." This was something he needed Sano-san to understand, because if Shinpat-suan won't, Sano-san had better chances of explaining it to him. "I just picked it up and browsed through it. I had no idea he'd react like I just killed his dog, or something. I didn't know he was so…"

"Sensitive about it?" Sano-san finished for him, when Heisuke couldn't find the right words to describe Shinpat-suan's state of mind. But once Sano-san said it, it all became so obvious that Heisuke couldn't but huff in agreement.

"Yeah."

Sano-san however didn't click his tongue, shake his head, or sigh as he usually did. To Heisuke's surprise Sano-san chuckled instead, softly, in an amused way and when he replied his tone was pointed, but tender.

"Heisuke. _I_ am not allowed to read his journals and I've been basically married to him for almost seven years now."

Technically, it's been two years of proper marriage and the rest spent in a legal mash-up of documents granting rights trying to alternate marriage, but Heisuke wasn't someone to get lost in technicalities. His dad had made his point. But then again, Heisuke wasn't that surprised that Sano-san wasn't allowed anywhere near to that damn diary, if what he had read was any indication of Shinpat-suan's recurring topic number one. 

"Yeah, no kidding. He writes mostly about you."

That made Sano-san almost grin.

"Yeah?" He asked with an amused sparkle in his amber eyes and Heisuke was now smiling as well, anxiety slowly replaced by mischief. "And? What does he write?"

"Oh you know…" Heisuke smiled crookedly. "Just the usual hymns and odes on how perfect you are." 

There was suppressed laughter in Sano-san's voice now, as he gave Heisuke what was probably supposed to be a warning look at the obvious honey-around-mouth strategy, but failed.

"I know what you're doing."

"Yeah?" Heisuke challenged.

"You're still in trouble."

 _"Too bad,"_ was what Heisuke would have replied if this was their everyday banter. But as he still wasn't completely out of the hole he dug himself in he didn't want to push his luck, so what came out instead was... "I know." And to show that he was aware of the extent of his crimes, and because contrary to popular opinion he cared about how Shinpat-suan felt, he asked. "Is he very upset?"

"Well," Sano-san started. "He exiled himself on the balcony with his blanket and a bottle of sake. Draw your own conclusions."

Heisuke averted his gaze again. "I'm sorry."

"That's something you should tell him." Sano-san said, but still ruffled Heisuke's hair in that fatherly manner that the boy pretended to hate, and added. "Look, I am aware that he overreacted. He does that a lot." Sano-san's smile was long-suffering and fond, and Heisuke felt a very strange sensation close to his heart. One that was warm, but ached just the slightest bit, in a way he didn't understand. "And that he ended up freaking you out. I already gave him a piece of my mind for that. But the thing is, even when something seems stupid to us, it doesn't mean it's not important to other people."

"I guess..." Heisuke sighed. "I just don't understand why he's so sensitive about it. I mean… He's quite good, actually. With words, I mean."

"I know." Sano-san smiled and when Heisuke gave him a puzzled look, the man elaborated. "I went to school with him, I know how he writes." Right. But then Sano-san turned somber once more, and this time his words sounded the slightest bit admonishing. "But for one, it's private." Heisuke looked away again. "And for the other, he's always been teased about it, so he's probably more than a little self-conscious by now." 

And if nothing else, _that_ hit home.

Heisuke was no stranger to how it felt to be picked on, whether it was because of some deficit, or an abundance, in skill, in height, or in passion. You were either too short, too stupid, too clumsy, too energetic, played way too many games, or were adopted, it didn't matter. You never were really 'proper'. Whatever the hell that meant. Sano-san must have seen that the words had an impact on him, because he rubbed Heisuke's shoulder again and the chiding tone was gone for good as he spoke this time.

"It's okay. Leave your old man to me." His dad's smile was warm and gentle, and when the man leaned down to kiss the top of Heisuke's head, there was that strange ache in his chest again. "Just apologize in the morning and mean it this time. It will be fine. Shinpachi loves you to bits, he'll forgive you, if he hasn't already."

There was a lump in his throat that made it impossible to talk. Heisuke swallowed around it and nodded instead.

"Meanwhile," Sano-san continued and the sudden mirth in his voice seemed misplaced, or at least until he said his next words. "I managed to convince him to drop your punishment."

As soon as those words were spoken the mood in the room did an 180 and suddenly _everyone_ seemed to be alive again, where they had been drowning in sorrow and guilt a mere second ago. 

"We're not grounded anymore?!" Ryuu exclaimed and Heisuke could see all the effort Sano-san had to put into not laughing, as he shook his head.

"No."

"SANO-SAN!" Heisuke cheered as he threw himself around his dad's neck, but that was apparently a little too early, because as Sano-san reached out to ruffle his hair again, he added.

"On the condition," he had to speak that part in a slightly raised voice to overpower their cheers. "That you're off playstation till the next weekend."

Heisuke froze.

"Next weekend?" He asked, in case he didn't hear right.

"Next weekend." Sano-san confirmed, trying yet again to not sound amused at Heisuke's predicament and failing. God, why did he have to have two such pieces of work for fathers? But then again, it _was_ better than being grounded, Heisuke pondered as he looked at Sano-san, while his dad stared back at him, grinning like the shit he was. 

Heisuke sighed and mourned.

Not that he didn't deserve it.

"Fine. Seems fair."

His tone must have been extremely dejected though, because Sano-san only barked a laugh and ruffled his hair for _the third time_.

"I'm glad we agree." Pushing him down and unnecessarily tucking him in, Sano-san finally seemed to deem them chastised enough to let them off for the night. "Now go to sleep. You get up early tomorrow."

"Says the one who gets up at like 4." Heisuke mumbled, his heartbeat starting to even out, with the stress falling off and the events of the day finally catching up on him. 

"4:30." Sano-san corrected him, but Heisuke's eyelids were already growing heavy. "G'night…" He mumbled, still aware enough of the soft lips pressing into his temple, and the click of the lamp, but not enough to protest. He still heard Chizuru's and Ryuu's goodnights and Sano-san's short pause at each bed followed by the soft padding of feet against the floor, as even in spite of the dark their dad seemed to know the parkour course that was their room by heart. But the short pause in the steps as Sano-san turned and smiled, or the soft voice, barely a whisper, carrying them over to the land of dreams tenderly, before the click of the closing door disappeared in the silence of the room, were all lost to him.

"Goodnight."

* * * EPILOGUE * * *

On a warm Sunday morning a week later Heisuke stuck his messy head into the master bedroom once again. It was the ominous 'next weekend' ever since what has now gone down in the family chronicles as 'the thing with the pillows', and when Shinpat-suan failed to breach the subject the entire Saturday and at breakfast that morning, Heisuke had the uncomfortable realization it was upon him to take the matter into his own hands. The matter being his precious gaming time. A cool breeze swept through the room as he knocked and opened the door, and Shinpat-suan looked up at him from where he was writing once again at the table, blue eyes fixing him over the light frame of his glasses. In spite of his kinda academic face, he still wore his green gym short and white muscle shirt, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead and elbows resting on the table in a way that wouldn't strain his arm muscles. The gust of air came from the open balcony door along with the sound of a running treadmill, where Sano-san hadn't finished his workout yet. Because Sunday was the only day he didn't go jogging in the morning – Heisuke tried not to think too deeply about that – Sano-san compensated with a slightly longer workout later that morning.

"Hey~" Heisuke greeted the both of them as he stepped inside, closing the door behind himself to keep the draft out. "What's up?" He asked, gaze flickering for a moment from Shinpat-suan's face to the notebook open in front of the man, a gesture he was sure didn't slip past the man's astute eyes, but Shinpat-suan didn't say anything about it. It made Heisuke feel a little better. To be honest, he still felt a little bad about what had happened, and his dad also still seemed a bit prickly about it, at some moments. But that also may have been just Heisuke's paranoia.

"What is it, Heisuke?" Shinpat-suan asked with his trademark smile, removing his glasses to give his son his full attention and Heisuke shrugged, resisting the urge to rock on his heels. Instead he stuck his hands deep into his pockets and came closer.

"I was kind of wondering… You, uh, said I was off my playstation till this weekend, yeah?"

When Heisuke saw the smile falter he averted his gaze, realizing belatedly that his shoulders came up a little to hide his face.

"I, uh, wanted to know if that means I can go and finally play Tekken 7 now." 

He had only been trying to play it for an entire year, but it was usually a full out battle in the arcades to get one game in and Ryuu, the ignorant fool, usually didn't last an hour in such establishments, while Chizuru wasn't fun to play with because she always somehow seemed to win. Saitou wasn't much into it either, though Heisuke suspected that was mostly because of Ito-san's ban on games and Saitou's lack of rebellious attitude, and Souji would miss out purely for the sadistic pleasure of annoying Heisuke. But the game had finally come out that week on consoles and he had just enough allowance left to get a copy. … Okay, _maybe_ he might have had to borrow a little from Ryuu, but as his brother had still felt a bit contrite Heisuke decided to shamelessly milk that shit. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't plan on paying Ryuu back. Eventually.

Shinpat-suan's sigh brought him back to reality.

"I did say that, didn't I?"

The question sounded slightly odd, since Shinpat-suan wasn't usually one for asking inane questions and Heisuke wondered if he was supposed to answer that. However, before he could have reached a conclusion about it, Sano-san did it for him.

"Yes, you did."

One could almost feel the annoyed grit of Shinpat-suan's teeth, if it wasn't for the treacherous twitch at the corners of his lips, that looked suspiciously like a smile. Shinpat-suan didn't honor the cheeky reply with one of his own, instead simply leaning out of the door and pushing a few buttons on the treadmill controls if the beeping sound was any indication. Heisuke had to bite back a laugh when he realized the machine had almost doubled it's pace. He was still biting his bottom lip when Shinpat-suan turned back to him. 

"Heisuke, I need to ask you something."

"No, I won't do it again."

The prompt answer made the guy smile, and Heisuke saw a twinkle of amusement in those sky blue eyes, before the playful reply came. "Agreed, you won't." Heisuke barely held back an eye roll, but Shinpat-suan ignored him, before finishing. "But that's not what I wanted to ask."

Heisuke raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Shinpat-suan looked away, rolling his fountain pen between his fingers to the point where Heisuke thought he might have drifted (which would have been the most bizarre thing to happen ever since Hatoful Boyfriend), when his dad finally spoke.

"I, uh… Did I scare you much?"

Heisuke blinked.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I kind of went through it in my head again, and I remember you looking pretty freaked out, and Sano said you looked like a kicked puppy..."

"Hey!"

"…Later on, and so I was wondering, if I didn't… somehow… manage to…" Where Shinpat-suan was quick to ignore Heisuke's indignant cry, seconds later his voice started trailing off, words that he had hurried to finish suddenly coming much slower, with an uncertainty that Heisuke thought until now his dad didn't possess. He wasn't sure what to make of it, so he just stood there, a strange mixture of confused and dubious. He thought he knew what Shinpat-suan wanted to say, but he didn't know how to respond.

"Look, I just want to make sure you know that both of us would rather keel over than hurt you."

The easygoing him from a week ago would have dismissed his dad's words and questioned the guy's well being in a way that implied a certain level of mental instability, but Shinpat-suan looked genuinely _afraid_ that Heisuke might have really been scared of him. It made him pause. But at the same time he knew what Shinpat-suan said to be true, and he had never doubted either. 

"Yeah, like I don't know that," he replied with just the right amount of snark to get the point across that he had never been and never would feel threatened by his dads. Terrified of their wrath? Sure. But threatened? Never. "You lose your shit every other week, 's nothing unusual. You're about as scary as a newborn bunny." 

"Hey!!!" 

It was Shinpat-suan's turn to cry out in indignance, but it drowned in the combined sound of Sano-san's breathy snicker and Heisuke's chuckle. 

"Face it, Shinpat-suan! You're just a big ol' teddy bear!"

"You know, kid's got a point." Before Shinpat-suan could protest his further discredit, Sano-san chimed in, amusement seeping into the slightly breathless voice.

"And don't _you_ got workout?" Shinpat-suan shot back, but before either of them could start one of their 'hearty exchanges', Heisuke spoke up again.

"Can I say something as well?" 

Shinpat-suan merely shook his shoulders in a 'yeah, sure, why couldn't you?' way and Heisuke rolled his lips together in contemplation over his next words. He knew what he wanted to say, and he didn't want it to be misunderstood in any way.

"I already said this, and I know you told me it was alright, but I get the feeling like you're still a little sour about it, so I'll say it again. I wasn't trying to prank you, or prove a point, or something. I honestly had no bad intentions. I know I get cheeky with you, but I would never do something intentionally hurtful to either of you. I really couldn't." Keeping his gaze straight on Shinpat-suan, Heisuke spoke as earnestly as he could muster. It was important to him that his dad knew. Really _knew_. "And just for the record, I don't think it's ridiculous. Plenty famous writers kept journals as well." He added for good measure because it was both true and might help prevent Shinpat-suan from reacting like this ever again. Not that Heisuke planned on a repeat, but the guy needed to chill out. "In fact, you might wanna publish yours." A small smirk appeared on his face before he continued. " _Memoirs of a queer, or how I scored the best of the best,_ or something. I'm sure it would be a bestseller."

There was a loud sound from the balcony that cut another indignant cry in half, and when they both rushed out they realized it had been Sano-san gripping the handles of his treadmill hard to not fall off from the sudden outburst, while trying hold on, jog and laugh simultaneously.

"Kid's right, you know." The man said when he caught his breath, huge grin still etched onto his features. "You're good enough to make at least a decent side income of it."

"Uh-huh." Shinpat-suan crossed his arms dryly. "Because everyone wants to read the angsty thoughts of a teenager from over a decade ago. I doubt any editor would make it through that without falling asleep."

"You know my opinion on that." Sano-san breathed, regaining his rhythm. 

"And you know my opinion on your lung capacity. You need to raise the difficulty on that thing if you still can talk."

"It's on highest already."

"What?!" Shinpat-suan leaned over the controls in disbelief, only to further his shock. "My god, get off there and catch a break, you maniac!"

"Yeah? Who turned it so high in the first place?" Sano-san shot back, but continuously lowered the pace until he effortlessly slid off the machine. "Anyway, I agree with Heisuke. I'm pretty convinced we could make good money with whatever you might write."

Shinpat-suan crossed his arms again, but there was in spite of his next words something conceding in his posture. "Yeah, I'm not so sure, but let's just agree to disagree." 

"Like with the pillows huh?" The words fell out of Heisuke before prior thought, and his two dads gave him a puzzled look, so all he could do was scratch his head sheepishly and elaborate. "That was why we were in the room in the first place. I wanted to show them that bizarre feud you're leading over covers."

Sano-san looked inexplicably smug for some reason, while Shinpat-suan just laughed awkwardly.

"It seems like our kids have us all figured out, Nagakura Sanosuke-san." He said, turning to look at Sano-san. "What do you intend to do about it?"

"Me?" Sano-san's eyebrows lifted and Shinpat-suan shrugged.

"You're the main problem solver in this arrangement."

Sano-san snorted. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll take a shower and afterwards I'm gonna throw out the growing stack on your desk, and pretend I'm able to maintain a sense of order in this household." Sano-san was talking very slowly as he started leaning into Shinpat-suan's space in what was probably supposed to be a threatening manner, but as usual, the smile completely ruined it. The following whisper sounded more seductive than anything else and Heisuke felt his insides revolting at all the sugar he was witnessing. "So, it's all up to you, Harada Shinpachi-san." 

But when Sano-san pinched Shinpat-suan's ass for good measure as he headed inside, Heisuke was officially ready to die.

" _Guys..._ "

"You're traumatizing our son!" Shinpat-suan called after him, but Sano-san had a comeback ready.

"In gaming mood he's your son."

Sano-san was facing away, so he wouldn't have seen Shinpat-suan throwing his arms in the air in sheer frustration, but he wasn't far away enough to not catch Shinpat-suan asking, as he turned to Heisuke, "So. Tekken?"

Almost an hour later that's how Sano-san found them, sitting on the couch, trying to outscore each other. He had come in just in time to see Yoshimitsu (and it was amazing that old dude was still around ever since the first game came out) completely destroying his opponent while all Hwoarang could do was watch uselessly. 

"DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!"

"Aw man, Shinpat-suan, he was _mine_!!!"

In the first few moments they didn't even notice the redhead standing there, smiling at the sight that presented itself to him, relieved look on his face. Only when he leaned over the couch in the space right between them as they started on the next level was when they were alerted to his presence.

"Don't let him beat you, Heisuke."

"Easier said that done, he's a fucking monster!"

"Language." Sano chided, while Shinpat-suan just laughed like a true maniac. 

"I've been playing this game since the break of the millennium, you runt! Think you can defeat my score? Think again!"

Right. It was hard to forget that Shinpat-suan was a gamer as well, but Heisuke sometimes had trouble remembering his dad's exact age. He definitely didn't act like the old dude he was, he thought, while expertly kicking the enemy into the gut. Take that.

His thoughts were however interrupted by a warm touch as Sano-san took the remote from him with gentle force. He was about to protest, but then he saw Sano-san's focused look, which he _never_ had seen the man giving a _screen_. It suddenly occurred to him that he never had never seen Shinpat-suan play single player either. "Let me try something…"

But before he even finished talking there was a flash of movements on the screen and suddenly Heisuke's score shot up like a spacecraft, now significantly closer to Shinpat-suan's. Heisuke didn't even perceive the choked, startled sound next to him, just staring at his dad in awe, but Sano-san seemed actually more surprised than him.

"Holy shit. That still works?"

"How'd you do that?!" Heisuke exclaimed and just as his dad swiped his fingers quickly over the button combination with a sheepish smile and a twinkle in his eyes that he shared with Heisuke, Shinpat-suan finally found his voice again.

"That… That doesn't count! Turn it back! Turn it off!"

"No! No way in hell!"

A fierce battle for the remote ensued afterwards, with Shinpat-suan desperately attempting to take it back to the previous save and Heisuke adamant in protecting his score. Neither of them paid attention to the retreating Sano-san walking off to get some cleaning done, while whistling a merry tune. And if in the process he went into the kid's room to sort through the clutter only to notice a single, worn writing pad lying on Heisuke's bed with a sticky note that read _"open at your own risk"_ in his husband's quirky hand attached to it, they didn't know about that either. And if he picked it up, with mixed feelings of wonder, a hint of jealousy and a little bit of temptation, and realized it dated to roughly around the time he met the author, it would stay his secret. They would stay unaware even to the fact that he ended up not giving into the temptation, and gently placed the pad back as it had been, shaking his head with a fond smile, while returning to finish his work. 

The next time either of them would get to see the redhead again would be as he joined them later with a bottle of sake and a book in the living room, making himself comfortable in the armchair and keeping them company as he watched them play. 

Not that Heisuke would let him remain on the sidelines for long. 

Because, just as he would defeat Shinpat-suan for the first time in his entire existence, he would have to run for his life, while cackling with glee over his victory. And what better place to hide from his dad than his dad? After all, the best ally against Shinpat-suan's wrath and antics was still and always would be Sano-san. But the way that Shinpat-suan would end up looking at the end of their 'battle royale', laying on the ground utterly defeated, with his laugh-lines bunching and breathless from the exertion, didn't make it seem to Heisuke that he minded at all.

**Author's Note:**

> I obviously never played Tekken. I'm also not much of a gamer, or up to date with the newest trends (I'm more of an old soul, really) thus writing Heisuke and Shinpachi is a bit of a pain sometimes. Input is appreciated.


End file.
